Internationally Acclaimed Violinist, Pianist to Perform in Park University International Center for Music Guest Artist Series Concert

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

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Park University’s International Center for Music will kick off the 2017 portion of its 13th concert season with a performance by violinist Shmuel Ashkenasi and pianist Meng-Chieh Liu. The concert, a part of the ICM’s International Guest Artist Series, will be presented on Saturday, Feb. 11, starting at 7:30 p.m. at the 1900 Building’s Parkway Room, 1900 Shawnee Mission Parkway, Mission Woods, Kan.

Born in Tel Aviv, Israel, Ashkenasi attended the Musical Academy of Tel Aviv and gave his first public performance at the age of 8. After coming to the U.S. to study with Efrem Zimbalist at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, he won the Merriweather Post Competition, was a finalist in Belgium’s Queen Elisabeth competition and won second prize at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. In 1969, Ashkenasi formed the famed Vermeer Quartet and remained its first violinist throughout the quartet’s 39-year career, gaining a reputation as one of the world’s outstanding chamber musicians. He joined the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music in 2007, and also teaches at Bard College in New York.

Liu first made headlines in 1993 as a 21-year-old student, when he substituted for André Watts at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia with three hours’ notice. His acclaimed performance was followed by a number of widely praised appearances, including a recital at the Kennedy Center. A dedicated chamber musician, Liu is the artistic director of Chicago Chamber Musicians, which he joined in 2009. He received a Bachelor of Music degree from the Curtis Institute of Music and has been a member of its faculty since 1993. Liu, who has won first prizes at the Stravinsky, Asia Pacific Piano and Mieczyslaw Munz competitions, also serves as a faculty member at Roosevelt University in Chicago and the New England Conservatory in Boston.

The next concert in the season schedule will be on Saturday, March 4, as the ICM faculty and students perform together for the ICM Side-By-Side concert. This concert will be held at Graham Tyler Memorial Chapel on the University’s Parkville Campus.

For more information about these concerts or the ICM, contact Roger Kugler, D.M.A., director of the ICM, at roger.kugler@park.edu or (816) 584-6484.

Park University is a private, non-profit, institution of higher learning since 1875.

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